Astros 3, Nationals 2 (11 innings): Little things add up to first series win in more than a month

Jose Altuve didn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound in his first game with the Astros.

No Astro did, really.

Therein lay the beauty for the Astros in an 11-inning, 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park. Astro after Astro did his part to piece together the team’s second one-run win in two days.

Pinch hitter Jason Michaels did just enough to accomplish his assigned task, flaring a single to center field that drove home catcher Humberto Quintero from third base with the 11th-inning run that swung a series in the Astros’ favor for the first time in more than a month.

Righthander Brett Myers put in a workmanlike seven innings, limiting the Nationals to two runs and eight hits. Relievers Enerio Del Rosario, Mark Melancon and Wilton Lopez collaborated on four innings of one-hit scoreless relief that bought time for the Astros to muster up one last rally.

“When you go extra innings like that, it’s a whole team effort,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “You see the guys do the things they did — that was fun for them, and it was sure fun to watch these guys play.”

A crowd of 29,605 was especially attuned to Altuve, whose one hit in five at-bats was a ninth-inning single off All-Star reliever Tyler Clippard. The Astros got 2-for-5 games from their Nos. 7-8 hitters, shortstop Clint Barmes and Quintero. Hunter Pence tripled and drew three walks, helping apply continual pressure on the Nationals’ pitchers. Center fielder Michael Bourn contributed a timely defensive play in the top of the 11th and a hit in the bottom of the inning.

For what it’s Werth

Nothing flashy, nothing splashy. Just the things winning teams do as a matter of routine.

“When you’ve got that going, I’m not going to say it’s easy to win,” Bourn said. “But it kind of makes the atmosphere a little more relaxed. You’re not pressing, trying to muscle up to get a hit.”

The last time the Astros won a series was June 17-19 at Los Angeles. The last time the Astros won a series at Minute Maid was May 23-25 against Los Angeles.

“We needed a win,” said Lopez, who showed his commitment to that cause by pitching for the fourth time in five days and turning in two scoreless innings.

A two-out triple by Pence and a single by Carlos Lee in the first inning gave the Astros a 1-0 lead off righthander Livan Hernandez. A one-out double by Quintero an inning later drove home Barmes from first base to make the score 2-0. Myers stymied the Nationals until the sixth, when Jayson Werth turned on a fastball for his first home run in 105 at-bats to drive in Michael Morse and tie the score at 2.

The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and couldn’t untie the score. Altuve singled with two outs in the ninth and moved into scoring position on a walk by Pence, only to get stranded on Lee’s line out to center.

With one out in the 11th, Werth crushed a ball to Tal’s Hill in center. Bourn got to the ball quickly enough to turn a potential triple into a double, creating a considerably more manageable situation for Lopez.

“I knew I had no chance of getting to it (on the fly)” Bourn said. “I just tried to get to it real quick and get it back in.”

‘Awesome’ celebration

Lopez (2-4) closed out the top off the 11th by getting pinch hitter Ian Desmond on a pop out and Jesus Flores on a strikeout. The Astros rewarded him in the bottom of the inning with a rally off Todd Coffey (3-1) that began with a single by Quintero and a sacrifice by Angel Sanchez. Bourn trickled a single up the middle, and third-base coach Dave Clark gave Quintero a stop sign. That put matters in the hands of Michaels, who was 4-for-26 (.153) and hadn’t driven in a run this season as a pinch hitter.

“I was able to get just enough of it,” Michaels said.

Michaels did his job, rounded first base and found himself in the middle of a joyous Astros victory mob.